Potential Vacation Thoughts

 

I was very much looking forward to possibly having some very romantic vacations with my wife if I was able to finally make more money.

I am now making more money. Not enough to become wealthy this amount could have gotten some nice vacations. Unfortunately my wife lost her battle with cancer and died several months ago so while I may be able to actually take a vacation I will of course be lonely and of course a romantic vacation is obviously not needed now.

I will at some point take an actual vacation. If I have enough money I will likely invite my youngest daughter along with her child who is my fabulous grand daughter. At one point I was very much hoping to be able to take her to Disney World and I might although their pricing has become hideously obnoxious.

There are of course many areas in the country that I have been in a few times when working and on a few vacations with my wife many years ago. Most of those locations I am sure my grand daughter would love and they are less expensive than Disney World.

New Orleans is one possibility because it is a great place with wonderful food and they have a fantastic zoo there that I am sure all children love.

Las Vegas is also very nice and there is a Circus casino with an area inside that children love with the circus activities.

I am sure at some point I will determine other possible vacation locations but I am just waiting a bit to have saved a little money since I still have nothing saved after making very little while having to pay the out of pocket expenses while my wife had her cancer treatments and medications.

 

Technorati Tags: Vacation,child vacation,friendly vacation locations

If You Love Travel You’ll Love Singapore!

 

I have seen many TV shows about Singapore and it looked fabulous on all of them so I did some research on the city and the area and if I ever have the money for this trip I would love to do it.

I live in Harrisburg PA and I generally fly out of Baltimore or Washington DC since I find much better flight and price options at those airports even though Harrisburg does have an International Airport but it is rather small and does not really have many flights compared to the others.

I found some pretty nicely priced flights from Washington. Turkish Airways has a flight that is only 964 dollars a person round trip and the flight is a total of around 30 hours. There are also some more expensive flights that are very long. One of then is slightly over 50 hours.

Once arriving in Singapore there are some very nice hotels that are not hideously expensive in a number of areas within a few miles of the center of the city.

From everything I have seen from researching online and what I have seen on TV shows, Singapore has what looks like the most fabulous food there is. It is a mix of Chinese, Malaysian, Indian and a few dishes that looked very much like some of the ingredients were based on Thai food. There are regular restaurants but there are number of buildings around the city that are called Hawker Centers. They are kind of like the food areas you can find in some malls in the United States. They are set up these food stalls in the buildings because the government of Singapore has mandated that there can be no food carts on the street any longer. One of the dishes I would love to be able to eat is called Chicken Rice. I watched one of Anthony Bourdain’s  shows and this dish looks absolutely delicious. The food stall boils entire chickens for hours with a few herbs and spices in the water. After the chicken is done that water is used to cook the rice. It is then served with chopped up chicken along with a number of different sauces that are available to dip it in or to spread over the rice and chicken.

There a number of ethnic areas that are surely fantastic since I love cultural areas. There are also a number of historic areas that I am also sure are great. I love exploring culture and learning of the history of any new area I go to.

I wish I had the funding to there now since this is the year that Singapore turns 50 and there are all kinds of festivals going on.

Technorati Tags: Singapore,Hawker Centers,Chicken Rice,ethnic areas,Chinese,Malaysian,Indian,Thai,Food

Budget Travelling The World In 2015

 

Currently there are a number of relatively inexpensive places to travel to. Unfortunately the way things are going world wide a number of them I would say that right now are not very good.

Hungary and Croatia are places that I would love to go to but with the weird shit that Putin is doing periodically in Eastern Europe I would say they could potentially be at least slightly dangerous. Visiting as a tourist when Putin again tries to bring back the Soviet Union could be a bit of an issue.

Today the Caribbean and South America are probably the best for now. Particularly since South West Airlines is now doing some international flights to the south which could help a bit if the flights are not costing you a mint.

I think my first visit to South America will be Ecuador. That country has a few cities that are very inexpensive to live in and considering how my wife and I are falling apart financially this might be a good place to learn about.

I have seen a few studies done that have shown a few Ecuadoran towns that you can live relatively well at for under 1000 dollars a month and considering that the average social security check currently is around 1200 dollars and the assholes in the Republican Party want to cut it even further down Ecuador might be a good place to learn about.

Ecuador also has wonderful food. Empanada's are one of my favorite South American foods and from what I have been able to find out they started out in Ecuador.

Here is a short video of a flight landing in Quito from Miami.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kD4HeivK_E

 

Technorati Tags: america around bit considering currently dollars ecuador empanada flights inexpensive issue learn live number places putin relatively south travel wide

What Is Still My Desperately Needed Trip

 

My wife’s cancer is becoming a bit uncontrollable and my goal is to find some way to come up with enough money to take a very romantic trip to Paris before the cancer takes her away.

I am also having some health issues which are not cancer but are interfering with some of the work I am doing since not one single company is willing to hire me to do what I have massive experience in doing. I have applied for hundreds of positions that I have massive amounts of experience for and have received nothing at all in response.

I am now working in a 600000 square foot warehouse stocking the shelves so that the online orders can be pulled from the shelves and shipped. Under normal circumstances not a bad job but the pay is just so-so and I have been unable to work my full shifts which I fear will end up helping me lose my job. I went into the emergence room because of severe pain in my neck. They took x-rays which showed no problem and they sent me back to work. The next day at work I had pain that was even more severe so back to the hospital I went. A CT scan shows that the pathways that the nerves come from the spinal cord in have for some reason shrunk significantly and are causing nerve compression which is causing me severe pain within about 20 minutes of starting to lift things and stock shelves.

I do not know if this is possible but if there is anyone that has the capability of perhaps raising some money so I can take my wife on that trip it would be awesome. Based on current airfares and hotel pricing a week and a half overseas in Paris would likely require about 8-10 thousand dollars minimum which is an amount that I will never see based on my current fairly low income which currently is less than 40 hours a week since I rapidly become completely unable to continue to stock the shelves.

All I really need is a company that would hire me as their desktop support IT person which I could easily do even in my sleep but there are no companies that are willing to even interview me.

Can you say age discrimination? I need to find an attorney that can help me with that but I truly want this trip with my wife which I will write about and will give all kinds of details about everything that happens locally and give anyone knowledge of where they need to stay and walk around Paris on their trips.

Technorati Tags: amount anyone based become cancer causing company current experience give help hire job massive money nerve pain paris severe shelves shows stock trip unable week wife willing work

New Orleans

 

New Orleans is my favorite city in this country. The Southern Hospitality is taken to limits that are absolutely unheard of.

The food is also absolutely awesome.

There have been some news stories about high crime rates but I was there a little while ago and as long as you are paying attention the everything around you then you will likely be quite safe.

I am looking to go again at some point in January, February or March. Mardi Gras would be a great time but I want to go when it is hideously could here in the Northeast.

When I was there the last time it was in June and it is still a great city but it tends to get very warm from the spring over the summer.

It is an easy trip if you fly down or a bit more difficult when driving. If you fly out of Baltimore like I did the flight is just a few minutes over 2 hours. If you drive from here then it is about a 20-22 hour drive.

Here is a link a short video of a flight taking off from Baltimore at the end of January which is within the time frame I am interested in.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGHDJEi6J6I

Following this is a link to a short video of a flight Landing in New Orleans from Baltimore.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeNFNsQc8rI

I am truly looking forward to taking a vacation to a spot where my wife and I are unlikely to be freezing cold. I realize that New Orleans had some pretty cold weather during the polar vortexes over the last 2 years but even during them they were not anywhere near as cold as around here nor did they get the hideous snow storms that we had.

I am not sure exactly when this will happen but I am really looking forward to this. I wish I had the money to bring along my grand daughter. There is an incredibly fabulous zoo in New Orleans that she would absolutely be completely fascinated with.

 

Technorati Tags: Vacation,New Orleans,Great Food,Awesome City

Very Seriously wanted Vacation to Paris

 

It has been a while since I wrote to this blog and I apologize to those that follow but I am back now. My goal at this point is to hopefully, in one way or another, get a company position that will pay me enough that I can take my wife on at least one and perhaps a few Romantic European vacations before her cancer takes her from our family.

The average nonstop flight from the East Coast od the United States to Paris is around 8-81/2 hours. I would love to be able to schedule an overnight flight so we can at least nap on the flight and arrive in Paris at around 7 or so in the morning.

The following link will show you  a flight from the east coast to Paris.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=9sowmSldGio

After we arrive my goal is to be able to spend a week or two wandering around Paris seeing the museums and the local artisan shops. At some point I would like to take car and spend a day or so wandering around the countryside outside of Paris and enjoying the areas we are seeing. France has been told by many over the years as the most romantic country in the world and I so much want to be able to take my wife there for a while before she loses the battle with her cancer.

She is my life and I will be completely lost without her so if there is any way for anyone to assist me in making this happen it would greatly appreciated.

If she passes in the near future I will likely spend the next several weeks so drunk that I will more than likely join her on the other side rather quickly.

If I am given the opportunity to vacation with her properly by the company I work for then I will continue to work for that company making them successful until the day I drop dead on the job.

If anyone has any ideas to help me please feel free to comment on this post.

 

Technorati Tags: Vacation,Romantic Trip

Vacations of Your Dreams

 

In todays world your vacation might have to be in your dreams for a bit but things are moving in the right direction although incredibly slowly since our worthless Congress is unwilling to remove the shackles from the middle class.

That being said here is one of the vacations of my dreams.

My wife and I have had some fairly good trip in years past by just heading out at the last minute. I would like to leave and head down to I70 in Maryland and just head west and see what we come across. We have found some wonderful small towns and some awesome restaurants by just randomly taking exits off of the Interstates and driving around and seeing what is there.

I70 has an incredibly long route to follow which in my mind will allow us to find some really great things. Check out this mileage sign that you can see west of Baltimore.

There are tons of things to do in all the major cities it passes through which will be fun but I have no doubts that we will find absolutely awesome stuff in the other areas.

I am not sure when we will be able to do this and how much time we will have but this would be a great trip.

Technorati Tags: Road Trip,roudside sties,last minute vacation

The Trip to Paris I Would Love to Take My Wife On!

 

This is something that I rate at the top of my list of things that need to be done. My wife had a stroke a number of years ago and currently has stage 4 cancer. I have been injured several times and ended up in the hospital several time for asthma problems which were all work related.

She is and always will be the love of my life and I plan to be with her for the rest of our lives. The cancer appears to be somewhat under control. My goal is for both of us to be around for many years to come but under the circumstances there is no way to know how either one of us will be going forward.

I want to be able to see the sites with her and to be able to sit and enjoy something e few times a day at some of the sidewalk cafes. Then having nice romantic dinners and walking the Champs-Élysées at night and enjoying the lights and ambience of the city. There are all the museums, the Eiffel Tower, the local artists and the fabulous historic architecture and churches. This would be a week made in heaven.

That being said this is really more a dream than anything. I can’t afford this for many years to come if ever unless I win some kind of lottery.

The trip would start of course with a flight to Paris. There are a number of non stop flights that leave from JFK. The following is a YouTube video of one of the flights posted by a user with a number of awesome travel videos.

Ideally we would have an overnight flight and land in Paris at or before 8 am. At that time we gather our luggage and head to one of the train stations in the Airport to head into town or to the car rental area. There is a subway system that covers a great deal of the city and they also have a bicycle rental program with racks all over the city so you can rent bikes and go that way if you like. It would certainly allow for a much easier time if you want to stop and look at the architecture or go into a shop or a museum. I have never been to Paris but if it is like any other large city finding a place to park your car is likely a very difficult thing to do.

Take the train into town and get off at a stop that is reasonably close to your hotel. If you land at around 8 by the time you get your luggage, get through customs and get into town it will likely be pushing 10 or so. At that time we would start just wandering the area around the subway station to see what we could have for brunch.

After brunch I would check with the hotel to see if we can check in. Sometimes you can check in early but it depends on the hotel and what options you have worked out with them. If we can not check in then we start looking at whatever is closest. If nothing else the architecture in may areas of Paris is wonderful so we could just look at that and perhaps check some of the local shops to see what they have going on.

Once it reaches check in time we will be at the hotel and get everything into the room. After that another walk around to check things out and then a moderately late dinner so we can stay up fairly late and then go back to the hotel and crash for the night. If things are done like that it can, in many cases, take care of the whole jet lag problem.

There are a lot of hotels in Paris and a number of them give you pretty clear views of the Eiffel Tower which is what I would like for my wife and I. How cool is it to wake up and look out the window and see one of the most iconic structures in the world.

Paris has a fascinating history and also is known by many as a very romantic destination. I will be unbelievably happy to be able to get around Paris and see things with the woman who is the love of my life. Perhaps a small breakfast at a corner café while watching the people as they go by or as they sit at a table as well.

Then there are so many wonderful things to see and of course I guess we would start out by touring the Louvre. There is a fascinating web site that provides virtual tours and when looking at this I can just imagine being on site with the woman that is my world.

The Louvre has such incredible displays and the history is awesome. It can take the whole day or longer to see everything. That being said it is a good thing that there are many restaurants and cafes in or around the Louvre so you don’t need to leave or go very far to eat.

Once we spend the day at the Louvre it will be time to think about the nightlife in Paris. We can then drive around a bit and see the sights at night. Check with your hotel before you do this because any large city in the world will have at least a few areas that are not particularly safe to spend any time in so you would would want to stay away from those areas.

And of course I have a video of a drive around Paris at night. YouTube is an awesome site.

After spending the day at the Louvre and seeing the city at night then I would want to just start moving around and seeing the rest of the city as best we can over the next several days.

The Arc de Triomphe is one of the firs things to see since it will not take a whole lot of time. After that I would think that Sacré-Coeur would be next since the basilica will probably take several hours to see.

After that I believe the best thing to do would be to start seeing everything you can in Montmartre. That will likely take at least a day or so.

This is a vacation that I would like to be able to spread out over about 6-8 days since it could be absolutely exhausting given everything there is to see. I would like to be able t see as much as possible but without tiring out my wife too much.

Then we come home.

Technorati Tags: Paris,France,Romantic Vacation

Travels for Christmas

 

This is my thoughts on the best place to go just before Christmas. This of course will only apply to those that celebrate Christmas and we can certainly look traveling for holidays for those that practice other religions at a later date. This is not intended to offend anyone that does not celebrate Christmas.

I believe that the best place to go just before Christmas is Vienna. I have not yet been there and hopefully someday I will be able to afford it.

The Christmas Market there first opened 715 years ago. I would say they have had quite a bit of time to get if perfected and I and probably many of you, have seen it on some of the travel shows.

Scheduling it last minute like this is a bit pricy. The best I have been able to find as around 1500 dollars a person round trip just for the airfare.

As I always do I found a video of the approach and landing of a passenger aircraft at the local airport. In this case Vienna International. The video was shot and posted to YouTube by trainler.

 

After you arrive of course then comes the fun part. You will of course have already set up accommodations to suit what you may require. Once you have gone to your hotel or B&B or whatever and dropped your bags it is time to get started.

There is an official website with tons of information. You can find it here.

This of course is something I truly hope to be able to experience and if I do get the opportunity there will certainly be another blog post (possibly several) about how things went.

Enjoy and and Merry Christmas to all.

Happy Holidays to those who do not celebrate Christmas.

Technorati Tags: Christmas Market,Vienna,Austria,Europe,Old World Christmas,Holiday Travel

New Vacations

 

I am going to change the format a bit. Instead of huge dream vacations I will be focusing more on individual cities since in this economy very few people can afford the money or have the time to take long drawn out vacations.I will still do the occasional dream vacation but for the most part just individual locations.

We will start this new format out with a trip to Florence, Italy.

My trips all start from South Central Pennsylvania and there are a number of airports relatively close that I would use. Whichever one gives me the best price for travel is the one I would use. I am not locked into just one.

When checking airline flights always check more than one departure airport is there is more then one reasonably close. I have Harrisburg, Baltimore and Washington DC airports fairly close to me so I have several options when it comes to checking prices.

I am pricing this trip based on leaving the 1st Sunday in March and coming back that Saturday.

Flying out of Harrisburg the best price I found currently is $1055 per person round trip with several stops along the way.

Flying out of Dulles in Washington DC you can get the same trip, with just 1 stop on the way for a current price of $734 per person round trip so checking multiple departure points can save a bunch of money.

Since the Cheapest flight I found was Turkish Airlines I found a short video clip of a Turkish Airlines plane landing in Bologna which is where all trips to Florence seem to go from the searching I did.

One thing that I love to do when I get into a new city is to look around and get a feel for the people and culture and the best way to do that is to find some areas where the locals live and eat and try out those restaurants and shops and then hit the touristy spots to compare the 2 and see if there is a big difference or if tourists are actually treated like friends rather just visitors that are hogging up the shops and causing traffic jams and such.

Some of this is research you will need to do once you get in country unless you have some friends or relatives that are local to the area. Never be afraid to approach someone and ask questions. The best way to make people be willing to help you is to at least make an attempt to speak at least some of the language of the country you are in. If the locals see you making an effort but having problems they will be more likely to help you out by speaking English. Not everyone is a great English speaker but English is pretty well known in most countries around the world so if you have some Italian in this case and they have some English you should be able to have at least a reasonably informative conversation.

Never having been to Florence my research shows that as much of Italy there are quite a number of Museums and of course some wonderful churches. See what you can see. Go to a Mass and watch the service. And of course make sure you eat hearty. You are not going to get Italian food any more authentic then when you are in Italy.

Just be cautious and pay attention to what is going on around you. Any big city anywhere in the world will have their share of less than desirable people but if you just pay attention you should have no trouble at all and speak to and treat people the way you want to be treated. They are not your servants you are not at home so behave and you will have an awesome trip.

Technorati Tags: Vacation,Florence Italy,Europe

My Dream Trip to Romania

 

Eastern Europe is an area of the world I have always been fascinated with. I have never had the time nor the money to make a trip there but I have hopes. As always I have searched for and found a video of an Airline landing in the area I am writing about and in this case it landing in Bucharest which is where my trip will start.

Lufthansa Flight landing in Bucharest.

Once in country my trip would start with things that are nearby such as the

Snagov Monastery which is supposedly the place where Vlad Tepes is buried. For those of you not familiar with the history, Vlad Tepes (also known as Vlad the Impaler), was one of the people whose information was use by Bram Stoker in creating Dracula. Coincidentally enough Dracula was actually the family name of Vlad. His father was known as Vlad Dracul. Dracul meaning Dragon. Dracula means Son of the Dragon.

I will certainly also visit Sighisoara where Vlad was born and Poenari Fortress which is supposed to be the authentic Dracula's Castle.

There are also of course tons of things to see in Bucharest itself.

From there I will branch out to the rest of the country. Prior to my leaving I will be contacting a number of my friends from over the years to see if they have any thoughts on where to go. Tourist attractions are nice but I would like to see how the locals actually live along with seeing the shops, markets and restaurants that they eat at.

So there you have my Dream trip to Romania.

Technorati Tags: Romania,vacation,Eastern Europe,Bucharest. travel

Our Anniversary Trip to New Orleans

If any of you have not been to New Orleans then you really need to visit. There are still some areas that are no fully recovered from Hurricane Katrina but the people of New Orleans are a tough group and have been able to cope.

It is very hot and humid in the summer but I had such a wonderful time and the people are so incredibly kind that if I had the money to retire I would probably not have come home.

We stayed at a home not far from the French Quarter that is similar to a B&B except the they just supply the room and bed. Breakfast is something you find on your own.

That being said, the food in New Orleans if incredible. You can find restaurants all over that claim Cajun and creole food but while the ones near where I live have good food it is not even close to what you get down there.

The way to start your day is to go to the French Quarter and stop at Cafe du Monde. They have been in the same location for 151 years and they serve Beignets and coffee. The standard is an order of Cafe au lait  and Beignets. The Cafe au lait there is half very strong coffee with chicory and half hot milk. They are open 24/7/365 and that is all they serve. 151 years of practice makes it the most extraordinary meal you will have. Very simple but worth quality awards from around the world. They do a pretty good business. I spoke to the current owner at one point while I was ordering and he told me that they have 18 gallons of milk heated and ready at all times for the Cafe au lait orders. That is one hell of a lot of coffee being made and served.

The food in New Orleans is extremely good pretty much wherever you go. We got into town right around lunch time on our first day and our drive to our room took us within a few blocks of Willie Mae’s Scotch House. We have seen it on so many food shows that we had to try it. The chicken is very tasty and they make the best deep fried okra I have ever had. That being said there is far better chicken to be had. In the French Quarter at 630 Bourbon St. is a little hole in the wall place called Willie’s Chicken Shack. I have had fried chicken all over this country as well as the Bahamas, Canada, Japan and the Philippines and I can tell you that this chicken is the best ever. If this recipe is given out and they ever decide to branch out into other locations I can tell you that KFC and Popeye’s are doomed. That is how good it is.

For those that drink New Orleans is heaven. I have not researched the laws but according to a few of the tour guides we say the bars are required to close only 1 hour a year. Something like between 1 and 2 AM Ash Wednesday. I suspect to perhaps give the bar owners a chance to catch their breath after Mardi Gras.

The architecture and history in this town is amazing. When you go by all means take as many tours as you can. I did notice an interesting thing outside the city. We took a plantation tour north of the city along the Mississippi in the bayous. There are probably very few places where you drive along and come across road kill that turns out to be a 6 or 7 foot alligator. Possibly near the everglades but there are many, many roads that run through the bayous so lots of chances to come across something unexpected while driving.

In conclusion, make the trip to New Orleans. A wonderful friendly place that is unmatched by all but a very few places I have been.

Technorati Tags: Food,Cajun,Creole,vacation

Anniversary Trip to New Orleans

 

At the end of June my wife and I will be headed to New Orleans for a week to celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary. I have been to numerous locations around the country as has she but neither one of us has been to New Orleans. We have a few plans but will be winging it for the most part. If anyone has any suggestions please feel free to email or message me.

Our plans are as follows. We will be getting into New Orleans around 10:30 AM or so on a Monday.

The following video is from YouTube by user PilotUTA. Very nice video of the approach and landing.

We plan on going to Willie Mae’s Scotch House for chicken for lunch. According to the map it is more or less on the way from the airport to the B & B we are staying at and since it opens at 11 I have hopes that we will not end up waiting for a long time for the food as is mentioned in many reviews. Most say the food is awesome but you can sometimes wait for a long, long time.

We are also planning to go to Casamento’s which is supposed to be one of the best seafood restaurants in the world let alone New Orleans.

The rest of our trip will involve seeing the historic sites and enjoying the music and the food for a week.

 

Technorati Tags: anniversary trip,vacation,New Orleans,food

Dili, East Timor

Thanks to Geo-Pick, one of my favorite sites, We have our City of the Day for May 11, 2012.

Dili is the capital of East Timor. The country is on an island approximately halfway between Australia and Indonesia.

The island has apparently been inhabited for over 4000 years based on things found such as cave paintings and things like that. The Chinese started trading with the natives in the 13th century because there was a very large supply of sandalwood forests.

A very good vacation spot from what I have been able to determine based on Research.  From Dili you can take a drive to the coffee growing region of the country. There is also Deep Sea Fishing. The Teak and Sandalwood forests to see and there is an old Government house that has been made into a hotel.

Food options here are not as varied as in some places but still good. You have Filipino, Japanese, Indonesian, Some other varied Asian cuisines and Portuguese since Portugal was here for quite a while for the lumber.

Accommodations range from fairly high end to backpackers hangouts for as little as 5 USD a night.

Nightlife appears to be decent as well. There are a number of bars and at least one disco that I was able to find listed.

I believe that should I ever come into money this is one of the places I would like to see.

Technorati Tags: asian cuisines,capital of east timor,cave paintings,food options,hotel food,government house,dili,sandalwood,vacation spot,east timor,13th century,favorite sites,deep sea,natives,backpackers,teak,lumber,forests,nightlife,portuguese

Bridgetown, Barbados

For todays random city of the day we have Bridgetown, Barbados.

A fascinating city is Bridgetown. It has been around since 1628 and in 2011 part of Bridgetown was designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.

Bridgetown is the capital and largest city of Barbados. It is a very short distance from the International Airport and is a very popular tourist destination as well as a business destination in many cases as a financial and convention center in the Caribbean.

I would consider it a very temperate place to visit as far as climate. It ranges from the low 60s to the mid 90s Fahrenheit. It is in the tropics which of course means that there is a rainy season and while I have not yet been to Barbados I have been in the rainy season of some tropical areas and I say rainy I mean RAINY. Not unpleasant but something you need to be prepared for. The country averages 50 inches or so of rain a year which may not seem like much but when the bulk of it happens over a few months things do tend to be a bit damp.

There is a nice shopping area and the parliament buildings are pretty cool to see.

One of the prime things that I will look for when I get the chance to visit will be food. The food in the Bahamas was wonderful and the Caribbean is home to one of my favorite types of seafood. Conch! I love Conch in many forms. Chowder, fritters and stir-fry just to name a few.

It is not far away so not hideously expensive to get to (depends on your idea of expensive I guess. Air fare is not really cheap anywhere with a few occasional exceptions) so hopefully those of you who follow this blog will be able to make the trip and see something new. Please feel free to share this blog with your friends.

Until next time enjoy this trip or any trip you may be making.

 

Technorati Tags: bridgetown barbados,food in the bahamas,world heritage site,occasional exceptions,parliament buildings,business destination,tropical areas,rainy season,shopping area,fritters,tourist destination,mid 90s,air fare,unesco,tropics,damp,fahrenheit,60s,nbsp,parliament

Ciudad de Guatemala, Guatemala

Todays random city from geo-pick.com is Ciudad de Guatemala. Guatemala City for those that are Spanish language challenged.

A very intriguing city with much of interest. For instance, within the city limits of the modern city lies an ancient city of the Maya called Kaminaljuyu. Kaminaljuyu was first inhabited well over 3000 years ago. Unfortunately during the growth of the last century a lot of the ruins were built over before the government starting protecting what is left. There are still a number of ruins including a ceremonial area of the ancient city. Guatemala City is also the location from which Central America declared it's independence from Spain.

The city sports an enormous number of sites and cultural activities as well as a film festival featuring Central American films.

Planning a trip should take into consideration the weather. Guatemala has a rainy season similar to other tropical and subtropical countries which runs from May through October. While it does not rain continuously for that entire time it rains a lot and believe me if you have never been in a country with this type of weather there are times when it not only rains but it RAINS!

Do not let that keep you away. If you can afford to travel hen by all means this is a country and city that I would say should be seen. Should I have the financial ability to do so I will absolutely be travelling here some day.

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New Format

I am changing up the format a bit. Still researching and giving thoughts on what to see on theoretical vacations but using a web site I just found. Geo-Pick.com is a pretty cool site in that it brings up a random town from about 4000 in it’s database when you go to the site so I will be researching those towns as they come up.

If nothing else I should have a pretty good amount of knowledge of cities around the world should I ever have enough money to actually do any serious travel.

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Vacations This Summer.

I wonder just how many people will not be able to take a vacations this year. Gas prices are at an all time high for this early in the year and they will inevitably go up over the summer. When the cost of the fuel to get you there is equal to or even close to the price the rest of the trip will cost then I am certainly not going there.

This will be a good year to practice the staycation by learning what you have available near you. I will touch on a few areas that I am familiar with that are reasonably close to where I live. By reasonable close I mean you can get there and back on just a couple tanks of gas.

Home for me is the South Central Pennsylvania area in the Harrisburg, Lancaster, York and Gettysburg area. There are loads of things to see and do very close by and quite a lot to see and do within about a 4-5 hour drive.

First, easiest and certainly least expensive would be the very local. Harrisburg itself has a number of very interesting things. The John Harris/Simon Cameron Museum. This is a mansion used first by John Harris Sr. who worked as Ambassador to the Native Americans for William Penn from whom Pennsylvania gets it’s name.

Just a very few miles north of Harrisburg you will find the Rockville Bridge which to this day remains the longest Stone Arch railroad bridge in the world.

About 20 minutes east of the city is a town with a name known by almost everyone in the world. Hershey is a very recognized word and where the first manufacturing facility for Hershey’s chocolate was built. Of course you also have Hershey Park and adjacent to the park is Chocolate World which will take you on a ride through the acquisition of the cacao beans and the process used to create the wonderful; masterpiece known as chocolate.

If you continue on a bit further east you come to Lancaster County which is home to a large number of Amish and has a number of sites and attractions to allow you to learn of them.

From Lancaster we move Southwest and arrive in York, PA which has the distinction of having been the capital of the United States for a short period of time near the beginning of this nation.

From York we move to the west and we come across the site of perhaps the most famous battle of the Civil War. Gettysburg and the National Military Park in and around it can give you days of exploration for those who enjoy history. The battlefield has over 30 miles of roads you can drive while following the signs for a self guided tour or you can get a tape or CD that will narrate your trip. You can also go on a bus tour of the battlefield and for those who like a bit more personal attention there are licensed guides you can hire.

This is a good start to the staycation and I will post more on this shortly.

 

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My Dream Trip to Europe part 6

From Luxembourg we had to Belgium. I would go pretty much straight to Brussels. There are some websites that say that some of the cities are not as safe as they were in years past so it is probably best to just see the capital since of course security is always best in a capitol city.

My ideas of what to do in Belgium revolves primarily around chocolate and beer. Not necessarily in that order. Belgium lays claim to the invention of the praline in 1912. Probably the best place for various choices of chocolates is Maison des Maitres Chocolatiers on the Grand Place. There 10 separate Chocolatiers in this location and this part of the trip is probably not going to one of moderation.

The beer of course is to die for and what I look forward to are the beers made in monasteries and abbeys by monks using techniques and recipes that are centuries old and reportedly as good as anything you can get anywhere. Some of them are exported but due to the stupid laws we have in this country about beer I would not want to bet that anything I can find here in Pennsylvania will be anything even vaguely close to what it tastes like in Belgium.

Chocolate and beer are the 2 biggies for me in Belgium but there are some other things. Strangely enough for a country with a relatively small coastline the national dish is mussels which makes me very happy. Apparently they do mussels and chips just as the English do fish and chips and I am certainly looking forward to that.

Then there is the Belgian waffle. Not just a ploy made up by US marketers. Waffles are also a very important food in Belgium and can be gotten very conveniently because they are done not only in restaurants but also by street vendors and from my experiences in New York and also in Manila, I am a big fan of street vendors.

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My Dream Trip to Europe part 5

From France I believe my next stop will be to go northeast into Luxembourg. Depending on how you want to handle things and on pricing it might be best at this point to get a Euro Rail pass of some kind so you can more easily make reservations and travel without having to worry about a car through all of Europe. If needed you can always rent one for a day wherever you are.

We go to the city of Luxembourg (yes the same name as the country). There are a number of absolutely fascinating things about this country and city. There are parts of the city where you can see 1000 years of history and architecture in a 2 hour walk.

 

In Luxembourg you can also do a fair amount of wine tasting in the Moselle Valley. There are a number of wine and grape festivals that run in various cities throughout the fall.

One more thing near and dear to my heart is the food. According to VisitLuxembourg.com there are more Michelin Star restaurants per capita than any other country in the world. While I am all about tasting and enjoying the local food that normal people eat I have no problem with the occasional really nice meal. This is a dream trip after all.

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